Lensbaby has announced the release of Scout with Fisheye, a fun and affordable manual focus Fisheye SLR camera lens available in mounts for all popular SLR camera bodies. Scout, the first Lensbaby lens that does not bend, features the Fisheye Optic, which delivers an ultra-wide 12mm focal length capable of capturing a 160 degree angle of view from infinity all the way down to 1/2 inch from the front of the lens. The Fisheye Optic can also create unique flare effects in an image.

"The Scout is for adventurous photographers wanting an easy to use fisheye lens combined with the creative freedom of the Lensbaby Optic Swap System," said Craig Strong, Lensbaby president and co-founder. "We chose to combine the straight-shooting, non-bending Scout with our 12mm Fisheye Optic so that Lensbaby users could have a simple, affordable, and fun way to play with the Fisheye's creative flare and eye-opening close focus."

Due to the extremely wide angle of view of the Fisheye Optic, full frame shooters will generally see a black circle around almost the entire image, and APS-sized sensor shooters will see black at the corners of their images. With Scout, the Fisheye image is always ideally situated in the center of the frame.

The Fisheye Optic features a creative lens flare effect that causes the edge areas that would ordinarily be black, to glow with color whenever there are bright light sources in the image. This lens flare effect is particularly apparent when shooting with a full frame camera though it is also noticeable when shooting with APS-sized sensors.

The ability to focus one half inch in front of the lens provides an extraordinary way to explore macro photography. Get close enough to a flower to nearly touch it – while capturing the entire garden surrounding it in the frame. Here are some sample photographs using both APS and full frame sensor cameras:

The Fisheye Optic's quality optical design and craftsmanship includes six multi-coated glass elements and a precision, aluminum body. Scout's exceptional build quality includes incredibly smooth manual focus. The Scout with Fisheye ships with the Fisheye Optic installed, but photographers can use other Lensbaby Optic Swap™ System optics such as Soft Focus, Pinhole/Zone Plate, Double Glass, Single Glass, and Plastic. With Lensbaby's selective focus optics (Double Glass, Single Glass, and Plastic), the sweet spot of focus will always be centered in the photo.

All Lensbaby Optic Swap System optics can be swapped in and out of Lensbaby lenses, providing photographers with a wide range of creative effects. When a photographer wants to change the optic in their Lensbaby, they simply pop the optic out with the Optic Changing Tool and drop in a different optic. Each optic has different features and image qualities, allowing photographers to choose the creative look that expresses their unique vision.

To change aperture, unscrew front group of elements of Fisheye Optic and remove disk with Aperture Tool. The aperture disk sits atop the rear group of elements.

The Scout with Fisheye retails for US$249.95 from select specialty photo stores worldwide and from www.lensbaby.com or by calling 877-536-7222 / 971-223-5662. For more information, visit www.lensbaby.com.